Trolley system



1. J. STOCK AND J. H. smoor. TROLLEY SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED APR-18,192]. L404 1 68. Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

Jomv h. SMooT,

v x a Z E T M l w "U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ITOHN .IACOLB STOCK, OF ERDENHEIM, PENNSYLVANIA, AND JOHN HENRY SMOOT, 0F HEMPSTEAD, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK;'SAID SMOOT ASSIGNOR T0 SAID STOCK.

TROLLEY sYs'rnm.

1,404,168. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 1'7, 1922.

Application filed Api-il 18, 1921. Serial No. 462.307.

To all whomit may concern Be it known that We, JOHN J. STOCK and J OHN H. SMOOT, both citizens of the United States, and residents of Erdenheim, inthe county of Mont omery and State of Pennsylvania, and IfiIDPStBfi-Cl, in the county of Nassau, Long Island, and State of New York, respectively, have invented a new and Improved Trolley System, of which the ,following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention. relates to a trolley system and'aims to provide certain new and useful improvements in connection with a device of this character.

In connection with amusement devices, such as have been illustrated in the prior patent of applicant Stock, issued May 4, 1920, Serial #1339299, it has been found that storage batteries are, in certain respects impractical. The'reasons for this are two fold, primarily the weight of the vehicle is excessive so that difliculty in transporting and handling thesame is encountered, and secondly, the storage batteries are liable to become damaged incident to the excessive vibration to which they are subjected, aside from the "fact that expenses in operation are increased, due to the fact that the batteries must be rel-charged.

7 Having this in mind, our present inven .tion aims to provide atrolley system, which is applicable to'all types of pleasure rides,

1 andli). m i of which the necessity of utilizing storage batteries is avoided.

A further objecftof our invention is the provision of a device. of the nature stated whichshall be extremely simple in construction, as well as light and compact, so that the same may readily be erected with a minimum of expense, in permanent locations, and also lend itself to ready usage in connection witlrtraveling amusement parks where the entire apparatus must be capable oif' being arranged within a minimum of space while being transported.

. Further objects. of our invention will appear in the annexed specification, taken in fconnection with the drawings which. latter present practical embodiments of the invention, and in which;

Figure l is a side view illustrating the trolley system employed, and, showing the same in use;

-Figure 2 is aview similar to Figure l but showing a slightly different form of system.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the units forming a part of the complete r de as illustrated in Figure 2, and

F1gure 4 is an enlarged sectional side new of the collector of the trolley.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 and 2 it'will be seen that the reference numeral 5 designates the boundaries, such as a railing, which forms apart of the platform upon which the ride is positioned and the reference numeral 6, supporting posts for the charged ceiling.

In Figure 1 it will be seen that the charged ceiling 7 comprises a netting which may be of any desirable character, and it will be seen that this netting is preferably support ed froniit-he posts 6 by means of insulators 8. Also one lead 9 is connected to the ceiling thus'provided, and the secondary lead 10 is connected-to the floor 11 comprising a series of-metallic members, both leads being connected to a suitable source of energy 12. Thus a ceiling and floor is provided, the former constituting a charged member, and the latter aconducting element, and it will be obvious that any element extending between these members will bridge the gap and close the circuit.

' Also in Figure 1 there is illustrated upon the floor 11, a vehicle 13 which vehicle may beof any desirable character such as that illustrated in the prior *patent of applicant Stock, and is' driven by a motor 14 carried by the same. Onefof the terminals of the motor is grounded by a lead 15 connect ing the same to a suitable portion of the ve hicle such as a supporting or driving wheel 16 and the second terminal of the motor 14 is connected by a lead 17. to a collector 18. suitably carried by a pole 19 by the vehicle 13.

. Referring now-more particularly to Figure 4 it will be noted that the collector 18 preferably presents a dome or mushroom shaped exterior face, and that a suitable type of insulater20 may bearranged between the collector and t e pole 19 for preventing the current from short circuiting directly through the vehicle.

Thus when the switch (not shown) is closed it will be obvious that current will flow from the charged ceiling 7 through the collector '18, motor 14, wheels 16 and thence through the conducting floor, thus completing the circuit and permitting an operation of the vehicle without the necessity of utilizing storage batteries within the body of the vehicle.

Itwillbe obvious in use that the ceiling- 7 due to being rolled up in shipment, or incident to other causes may becomebulged in places, andit will be seen that the peculiar shape of the collecter is devised with this in mind, in that 'anys'agging portions 'of theceiling would be capable of being slidably contacted with by the collector without any fear being felt that the collector might catch in the ceiling. 7 7 Assuming that the type of ceiling illustrated in Figure lis not desirable,it will be seen that an optional form'of ceiling may be utilized, such as has been illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. In these views it will be seen that the ceiling includes a number of units each of which'comprises a plurality of spaced bars 21, which are retained in as-- sembled position by any suitable means such as cross bars 22 extending across and secured to their upper faces. 7

These units may be mounted by the posts 6 in any suitable manner, such as securing the same to beams 23 properly insulated from the posts 6. Also withregard to the floor, it will be seen that the same may also be made in a number of sections, as has been shown in Figure 2, and each of the sections may include a bearing surface 24'having contact strips 25 sunk intoits face whereby a conducting floor is provided when a number of these units are assembled.

Obviously the ceilingillustrated in F ig ure 2 may be'utilized with the floor shown in Figure 1, and, also the floor shown in Figure 2 may be utilized with the ceiling shown in Figure 1, but it isto be noted in connection with both the floor and ceiling shown in Figure 2 that the bars 21 and strips" 25 are so space d that'certain of the wheels of the vehicle 13 will at all times be in contact with one or more strips25,

' while the spacing of the bars 21 would be such that the collector 18 would be readily capable of bridging the space existent between two ofthese members.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that we have provided a trolley system wh'ich'may be utilized to advantage incon- J nectionwith pleasure rides, but is not necessarily limited to this particular adaptation.

Further it will be understood that by means of the structure suggested the vehicle is not 7 limited to the utilization of storage batteries,so thatthe objections incident to weight,

etc., are avoided. I V a Obviouslynumerous modifications structure might readily be resorted to without in the least departing from the spirit of our invention, which we claim as;

1. A trolley system including in combination with a ceiling and floor both possessing electrical conductivity,'a vehicle adapted to be supported by said floor, and being in electrical contact therewith, means connecting; said vehicle with said ceiling, said ceillng presenting interstices.

2. A trolley systemincluding 1n combination with a ceiling and floor both possessing comprising a wire mesh, a source ofelectric current supply provided 'withjleads, said leads being connected to said ceiling and said floor respectively, a vehicle supported by said floor and being in electrical contact therewith, a pole secured to said vehicle, a collector insulated from said pole,

saidcollector "presenting a dome-shaped upper face adapted to slidably bear against the under face of said wiremesh, a motor for 7 driving said vehicle, and a lead extending from said collector. to one of-the terminals of said motor. a i

1. A trolley system including in'combina tion with a ceiling and floor both possessing electrical conductivity,and current conducting leads connected to said ceiling and. floor respectively, a vehicle adaptedto be sup ported and being in electrical contact with said floor, a motor'fordriving said vehicle, said ceiling'presenting a plurality of interstices, a pole secured to said vehicle, a collector supported by saidpole,.said collector being stices. 1 r

5. A trolley system including in combination with'a ceiling and floor both possessing electrical conductivity, a vehicle .having wheels adapted to movably supportthe same upon said floor, means connecting said ve-' hicle with said ceiling, said floor including a plurality of spaces, electrical conducting .members, a'series of electrical energy leads extending from said source of electrical enof suflicient width to bridge said inter ergy toflsaid floor and ceiling, the electrical V conducting portions of said floor being so spaced and arranged as to-constantly insure the disposition of atleast one of the supporting wheelsof said vehicle uponone of the. electrical conducting members at all times.

6. A trolley system including in combination'with a ceiling and floor both possessing electrical conductivity, a vehicle having 130' rent conducting leads connected to said fi0or and ceiling respectively, the strips being so disposed upon said floor as to constantly insure one of the supporting wheels of said 10 vehicle being in contact with one of said strips whereby to complete the circuit.

' JOHN JACOB STOCK. JOHN HENRY SMOOT. 

